How and why do people who aren’t actually well off pay for this stuff?

Agree with this, however it’s not only about showing off. It’s also wanting to give you and your family the best of life you can.

Lawyers in the top % of earners are not working with people in deprived areas and non lawyers even
more so

Yep, individuals have to wobble their own head and wake up, Big Corp certainly isn"t going to do it for you, they are going to milk you hard until the day you die.

I wouldn’t spend my money on designer crap but I don’t have to. People know we’re well off. Those that don’t have money make purchases to try to buy into the social circles of the wealthy by trying to do things that they think the wealthy would do, without realising that there’s no way a well off person would be wearing an Armani knock off from tk maxx.

Yes, there is a whole culture now of pretending to be like the con-people you see online, truly sad that people can"t see that they are being milked like sheep.

Yeah you’re not a high earner. Clearly. Firstly anyone with wealth tends to buy quality clothing snd doesn’t question it. As they know why. And they don’t start threads saying how do average or poor people afford this.

my take is you’re in this bracket.

Maybe they are happy where they live and enjoy having extra money to spend rather than a large mortgage?

I would have to a windfall of millions before I considered moving. My area is fine and honestly, I can't be arsed with the hassle!

Reminds me when a relative brought a not very well off friend over to our house who couldn’t understand how we could own a 5 bedroom detached but have such cheap and broken things

It's not hard to understand.

Brands = meaning something significant to the purchaser.

Whether they think it means better quality or just want to buy it because the societal association with the brand means better than non-brand or luxury.

That's it.

If I had a billion pounds I wouldn't spend £400 on a standard white T-shirt whatever the brand because nobody would know the difference and I'd see it as a huge waste of money.

I might spend a few hundred or more on a luxury brand handbag like Chanel if I really loved it. Because not only did I love it, Chanel is a brand associated with wealth, style, chic and so on. Owning a Chanel bag would be a big deal for me.

I wouldn't buy more than one even if I was a billionaire because I know I wouldn't get enough use out of multiple bags so it would be a waste of money. But one would signify something to me and make me feel a certain way.

Sorry, I can't be arsed to RTFT, but the sort of brands you're describing may be expensive, in monetary terms, but they are absolutely not desirable by people with real money to spend.

Bingo! LOL

My daughter has just ditched her knob head partner partly because of this. To say that he's intellectually challenged is an understatement. He would rather drive an ancient BMW than the perfectly sound Ford that I helped to finance. They both work, daughter part time, they have a toddler and are not high earners. He asked her the other day if he could buy a quad bike and when she said no, he suggested instead a bottle of £400 after shave . He follows rich people on Instagram and is very easily influenced and impressed by anything designer.

But you’ve literally just said “possibly credit cards? Possibly loans? Other means”

So why are you confused?

No, you couldn't be more wrong. Vinted and Depop are overflowing with designer clothes and footwear. I got a Fred Perry long sleeved polo shirt and Adidas trainers from Vinted for my Birthday last month. Both 100% genuine, but considerably cheaper than from the shops.

A friend of mine went to a car dealer where they had loads of cars on display. She had a beat-up ford escort, which she parked near the door of the showroom. Then she went to look at the cars.

No-one came out to ask her what she wanted (normally salesmen/women are all over you like a rash). So she left.

What they didn't know was that she'd just had a lottery win and wanted to buy a "better" car than she usually bought.

So she got her car from another dealer that didn't make judgements about potential customers.

It’s a bit like Mod culture, isn’t it?The working class getting very smartly dressed for leisure time. The outfits may have changed but it’s a means of identifying your ‘crew’.

I’m not knocking the WC, by the way- I’m one of them (but I’d rather spend my hard earned on adventures than clothes).

What brand were his jobbie catchers?

the truth is people prioritise different things and if you’ve no chance of owning a 5 bed detached house why not spend on fancy clothes or car repayments.

I can imagine this is true - I was much less careful when I was young and had no money because 'what's the point anyway'

Why do any of us want anything? Why spend on food from M&S when Aldi sells perfectly good food?? Why buy a better car? Or wooden crafted furniture instead of Ikea, or from Uniqlo instead of Primark?

Different people value different things and will find ways to pay for them. I’m sure there are things you own that feel like a touch of luxury, and aren’t basic brands.

Multiple credit cards will be in the mix somewhere, living as a debt serf is the most tragic way to live.

People are crazy it they think that well off people don't have signifiers to show off what gang they belong in.

Not all poor people will be interested in designer gear, it's a subset that are. Whether it's where you holiday, the work out gear you wear, the type of bike that you ride, the watch you wear, car you drive, how many staff you have, where you buy your house, educate your children etc etc very few people are above wanting to feel like they belong amongst their peers and they will either show that or like lots of people on this thread when they can't show it they can't resist telling you what they could afford to but choose not to because they above the povvos that do that kind of thing.

All of this 'you'd never know they were millionaires' stuff, I'm sure that if you too were a millionaire you would be tuned into the tells that give away their monetary status. Like recognises like.

Not quite the same level of cool though, might as well buy your designer shirts at Asda?

I understand the confusion. I know of people who have lesser paid jobs than I do, or a lesser household income (or, in some cases, no jobs at all) who wear clothes/ drive cars/ take holidays that I could never afford. I don’t know how they pay for them - possibly credit cards? Possibly loans? Other means? Either way these things need to be paid back at some point but the lives they live don’t reflect this. I don’t understand or know how they pay for it either, OP.

I was in a shop the other day and a young lad (18-19 maybe) was buying a Burberry baseball cap…straight on Klarna account.

Hacoo.